Artist Statement

By Joshua McClain

The web log, or Blog as the mainstream public has lovingly dubbed it, has become one of the most vastly used means of self expression over the past five years. The Blog has been created for the public use of conversing with other people on the internet. A person can tell their opinions and ideas to everyone who manages to stumble onto their Blog. Blogs have grown to allow people to make money just by blogging and leaving messages in the comments section of the Blog. With all of these tools and new ways of communicating, I want to see if there really is a lasting purpose for the Blog in the next few decades, before it is lost and forgotten the way E-mail almost has. Through the dissection of the Blog and its components I will try to uncover the pros and cons of the Blog in a fun and “personal” way. Giving the Blog human-like characteristics and having it find out for itself if it really should exist, is a fun way of finding its own purpose. Humans have to find their own meaning for life, so why shouldn’t this Blog. As you go through the Blog, which can be found at http://doimatter.blogspot.com/, please take some time to look at all of the links that are along the left-side of the screen. These links are self contained and are easily read quickly and their message is concrete. Also please read all five of Blog’s blog postings from bottom to top; the nature of the blog itself allows for a hierarchy of information, the most recent is the most important. Please leave comments at any point in the blogs I would love to read them and discover if they add to my ideas of the blogosphere or not. As always have a fun and safe time on the Information Superhighway.

A Media Considers Itself

Joshua McClain Film 202

A Media Considers Itself…

Blogging: A Podium to the World?

I would say that since the invention of the internet there has not been a more popular means of accessing the personal editorial ever. The world of Blogging on the “blogosphere”; as lovingly called by Rush Limbaugh, has given people an outlet to reach the world. Or has it? Blogger claims many things, self promotion, community awareness, and other information based venues. However as accessible as the Blogging world is, there is no guarantee that the blog will get read. Is it possible that there have been blogs created that have never been read? In that case would it be a blog? I am amazed how many times I click on a random blog and after reading through it I realize I learned nothing from this blog. There is a pretentious nature that is associated with blogging, and those who blog. If I were to set up a blog about blogging, the reflexive nature of itself would be very hilarious. The Blog is created to be read. Would a Blog set up to be just about blogs do well in the “mainstream” blogosphere? Maybe giving the blog, which is supposedly a tool; a personality would allow it to tell us something about itself. I think Blog will give it a try.

Blog’s Email – Blog The Blogger

Login Name – BlogTheBlogger@gmail.com

Password – luv2blog

Security Question – Why do I exist

Answer – A Podium to the World

Blog’s Facebook

Name – Justin Hall

Email – blogtheblogger.com

Password – luv2blog

This is still just an idea but I claimed these usernames online already if this medium consideration is the direction I chose to go in.

Wave--/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\--Length

Today I had the pleasure of watching a film by Michael Snow. The film is called "Wavelength" and was made in 1966. I have had the privilege, in the past, of seeing one other of his films "So is this" and found this film just as interesting as that one. The film was one combined zoom across a room to a picture on the wall of waves. It was just over 45 minutes, hence waveLENGTH, however the length was not something that got in the way of the films overall meaning. I was not a fan of the soundtrack, however I was able to remedy this slight annoyance by plugging my ears. I was still able to hear everything just perfectly without causing sensorineural hearing loss. I doubt anyone in that class will be able to hear above 140 decibels after today.

Onto content, We were challenged today by Michael Snow to watch a space that was slowly dissipating from many different vantage points. Snow always says that he works in the medium of time. He was showing us today how many things he accomplish in the time it took him to zoom across a room. He uses many different filters and lighting arrangements, also many exposure tests throughout the space in the frame.

I have come up with five areas that really stuck out to me.
1. The master of filmic puns Michael Snow pulled this one out, and it only took 45 minutes to do it. The Siren, which was the soundtrack, is a play on a Siren, the mythical ladies calling to men at sea, that lead the entire audience to take a plunge into the waves of the picture.

2. One object lesson I thought odd was the obvious placement of two chairs in the scene, however when characters entered the scene they sat down but on the window sills, not on the chairs. Why?

3. Another pun I found funny was near the very end when there was a "picture frame" the picture we were seeing was being framed by the same picture we were looking at only in a different time in the film. The picture framed itself.

4. One beautiful use of contrasting light and a deep red filter, was used to light a more intimate frame of the shot and it reminded me immediately of Wong Kar Wai's emotive use of light and color.

5. Lastly I was intrigued and let go immediately as the exposure was set for the outside of the room and we see for a split second the life that goes on outside in proper exposure.

The Michael Snow experience is always a welcome one however I think next time I will need to bring earplugs just in case.